Diddy’s Second Bail Request Rejected as Disturbing Text Messages Emerge

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail for a second time, and will remain in federal custody as he awaits trial on sex trafficking charges.

U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. rejected the Bad Boy Records founder’s appeal for pretrial release on Wednesday, Sept. 18, despite Diddy’s legal team arguing that the music mogul is being held in “horrific” conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, NBC News reported.

During Wednesday’s hearing, the defense proposed a bail package, which the judge deemed “insufficient.”

Combs’ legal team pushed for bail to be set at $50 million, home detention at his estate in Miami, and GPS monitoring. The 54-year-old mogul also vowed that he wouldn’t have “women visit” his home.  

Related: Diddy Allegedly Called Dirty Money Singer Kalenna Harper ’54 Times’ Over Dawn Richard’s Lawsuit

Prosecutor Emily Johnson argued against releasing Combs and introduced text messages between the mogul and some of his alleged victims, saying Diddy is a danger to the community and has a history of intimidating witnesses, according to the New York Post.

One text message was from Nov. 19, 2023, when a woman messaged the mogul after reading the allegations in his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura’s lawsuit. The woman noted that Cassie’s claims sounded a lot like what she had endured. 

“I feel like I’m reading my own sexual trauma,” the text message said. 

“It makes me sick how three solid pages word for word is exactly my experiences and my anguish,” the woman’s message continued.

The prosecution also brought up the hotel security video, which CNN released in May, showing Diddy physically assaulting Cassie in the hallway of a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016. 

Prosecutor Emily Johnson read messages that Combs reportedly sent Cassie after the attack.

“Yo. Call me, the cops are here,” the mogul reportedly wrote. “I got six kids. Please call. I’m surrounded. You gonna abandon me all alone.”

Cassie replied, “I have a black eye and a fat lip. You are sick for thinking it’s okay to do what you’ve done. I still have crazy bruising.”

Related: ‘Unseen Photo’ Shows Diddy After He Allegedly Abused Kim Porter, Ex-Bodyguard Says

The judge pressed Diddy’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo about the 2016 video, reportedly calling it “quite disturbing.”

 Agnifilo claimed Combs realized at that point that he had a problem with drug addiction and anger management, and went into rehab. Agnifilo also argued that the couple’s relationship was consensual and toxic on both sides. 

Before the hearing ended, the prosecution read another text message from a separate unnamed accuser. 

“You always want to show me that you have the power, and you knock me around. I’m not a rag doll. I’m someone’s child,” the unnamed victim reportedly wrote to Combs.

In the end, Judge Carter felt that even with the “slew of conditions that Combs lawyers offered,” the mogul could potentially “obstruct justice and intimidate witnesses” through his associates — and “even through coded messages.”

The judge issued the same ruling that U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky ruled on Tuesday — no bail.

Agnifilo spoke to reporters outside the courthouse.

“The fight continues. We’re not giving up by a long shot,” he said. “We’re going to fight this case with all of our might until we don’t have to fight any longer.”

Diddy was arrested on Monday, Sept. 16. He’s been charged with 3 counts — racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution.

The 14-page federal indictment against the mogul outlines accusations dating back to 2008.

“Combs relied on the employees, resources, and influence of the multi-faceted business empire that he led and controlled — creating a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice,” the indictment says.

Diddy pleaded “not guilty” on Tuesday, and his attorney said the arrest was “unjust.”

“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs,” the attorney said. “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community.”

Diddy’s legal troubles started with Cassie’s 35-page civil lawsuit alleging rape, battery and sex trafficking.

In addition to Cassie Ventura, Combs has been sued by several other accusers alleging sexual abuse, including music producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones and Diddy-Dirty Money singer-songwriter Dawn Richard.

Diddy is due back in court on Oct. 9.

Anita Bennett contributed to this report.